Jennifer Morey - The Eligible Suspect

Unable to stop himself, he said, “I find it very hard to believe you’ve never been married.”

She put her fork down. “Well, I haven’t.”

He watched her drink some more water, uncomfortable with him, not trusting in the least. “Why not?” Someone as beautiful as her wouldn’t stay single long. Or was her remote address an issue?

Setting her water down, she looked at him. “It didn’t work out.”

“So there was someone serious?”

Instead of answering, she picked up her plate and took it to the sink.

Korbin followed. The more evasive she was the more her mystery made him think of more questions. He put his glass down on the counter and his paper plate on top of hers while she made washing forks and knives take longer than necessary.

“Why did you quit motivational speaking?” Did her relationship that didn’t work out have something to do with it?

With an unappreciative glance, she took the paper plates to the trash can inside a cabinet door. Then she leaned back against the counter with her hands draped over the edge. Her flannel shirt stretched over her breasts, drawing his eyes. The material was too thick to see much detail. Taking in her long, slender legs, he all but drooled over the apex of her fit thighs.

When he finally looked back at her face, he met the fiery blue of her eyes.

She had some secrets of her own, or subjects that were off-limits.

“Sorry,” he said.

“I was engaged once,” she said. “He found someone else who had more to offer.”

He hadn’t expected her to answer and suspected she hadn’t, either. Their building curiosity was mutual, it would seem.

“Was he blind or just stupid?” he asked.

That softened her. A tiny smile poked the corners of that succulent mouth. “Both, I’d have to say.”

“Did he lose interest after you showed him the prenup?”

The way she blinked said it all. He’d guessed right.

“I’ve had that happen to me before.”

Instant warmth transformed her face when he said that. She breathed a laugh and smiled at him, straight white teeth flashing. He almost forgot what had brought him to her deserted road. This pull between them was getting strong.

He didn’t ask her if she loved the man. Obviously, she had. And obviously, she’d stopped speaking about inspirational things because of it. Did her hobbies fill the void left behind?

“You said you were married once,” she said. “Did she sign a prenuptial agreement?”

He supposed he should have seen that coming. “No. I never asked her to.” Niya had looked like a blond-haired Barbie doll but inside she’d been the genuine article. She was the kind of woman who didn’t know how beautiful she was. Korbin had to tell her all the time, or she wouldn’t believe it.

They had struck it off so well that Korbin had put off telling her about his parents. She’d grown up in a small Midwestern town in a working-class household. She had one brother. When he had finally told her, she’d been disappointed. She’d been angry with him for keeping it a secret. She hadn’t spoken to him for a week afterward. He’d never had a reaction like that from a woman, and it had made him love her all the more.

He’d pursued her relentlessly. Called. Stopped by the house she rented with another student. At last she’d agreed to see him again. He’d been forthright and honest with her in all things from then on. They’d fallen madly in love. It was unreal.

And then...

“I’m sorry,” Savanna said. “I don’t like it when people ask me about my engagement and...” She didn’t finish. “I shouldn’t have pried like that.”

And what? What had she been about to say? If he asked, he’d be prying the same as she had. And then he’d be obligated to reveal more of his own past. That made his mind up. Talk of Niya was best avoided.

“What other hobbies do you have?” he asked instead.

“Come on.” She started for the kitchen entrance. “I’ll show you.”

He trailed her through the living room to the stairway. Underneath the upper-level steps, more led to a basement. At the bottom, a huge rec room opened. There was a bar and a huge television with theater seats. Shelves on both sides of the TV were full of movies and video games.

Savanna passed that, then turned on a light that illuminated the other half of the room. But the light didn’t come from above, it came from a miniature town set up on a big table. A train track wound its way around, crossing a river and going over a road. There was a hill of houses overlooking the town. All of the buildings had lights and there were even stoplights that worked and cars that followed another track around town.

“You did this?”

“A little at a time.”

“You’re like a boy.” He laughed. “This is great.” He walked around the table. There was even a mine.

After studying every detail of the setup, Korbin saw her watching him with a soft smile. She loved how he appreciated this.

“You’d be a bad fit for city life,” he said. “You wouldn’t have time for all of this.”

She shook her head. “No.”

But he sensed she’d rather share it with someone. “Do you ever plan to have kids or are you too much of one yourself?”

“I’m too much of a kid myself,” she said. “I make a better aunt than I would a mom.”

He could see that about her. “I feel the same way, except I’m an only child.”

Sharing the growing connection between them, the moment heated up. Her eyes batted and lowered and she clasped her hands in front of her.

With the choo-choo of the train, Korbin stepped closer. Something deep in him warned to resist this, but desire overruled. Reaching out, he took her hands, coaxing her to unclasp them and then pulling her slowly to him. One step. Two. And then she was against him. She put her hands on his chest and looked up, in a spell that had fallen over them both.

He didn’t give her time to react. Didn’t give himself time to think. Just kissed her. Soft at first. Gentle. Warm. And then the very thing that had him in awe over her rolled into a ball of flames.

She made a groaning sound and the next thing he felt was her fingers raking through his short hair. He gave her more, and the fevered kiss compelled him to wrap both his arms around her, hands gliding down her slender back to her rear and pressing her against his growing hardness. She had to feel it through those thin pants.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. More than the reason that had brought him here, he still felt beholden to someone else.

Slowly, with unease building, he pulled back. She looked up at him through half-opened eyes, luscious mouth plump and wanton. She’d felt exactly the way he’d imagined. And more. So much more that foreboding crept into his unease. He felt as though he would betray Niya if he allowed this to go any further.

The smoke began to clear. Her eyes grew more aware. Abruptly she stepped back.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t know what made me do that.” Angelina Jolie lips...tight pants...braless breasts...

“Uh...how about a movie?”

“Sure.” A really loud, action-packed movie with no sex in it.

* * *

The next morning, Savanna stretched with a languorous moan. She’d just had the most wonderful dream.

Korbin’s big, strong body on top of hers...a big, hard erection igniting her flesh...

Her eyes popped open. Springing to sitting position, she cursed and wiped the hair off her flushed face. She was ready for him and he wasn’t even in here! Would she fall so easily for yet another man, only to lose him later?

Appalled, Savanna flung the covers off her, took a long shower and stayed in her room for a little longer. All the while, his kiss kept taunting her. So did the way he looked at her after the action thriller they’d watched. They’d walked upstairs and at his bedroom door, temptation to stay in her bed had begun to burn in his eyes.